Federal review begins for Obama Center, golf course

Before the Obama Presidential Center can be built, the government will review the historic resources in Jackson Park and evaluate the project’s environmental effects, officials said at a Friday morning meeting to kick off the process.

Any damages that the review highlights would have to be resolved before the construction could go forward said Eleanor Gorski, a deputy commissioner with the city’s Department of Planning and Development who hosted the presentation.

The federal review is taking place because of Jackson Park’s status on the National Register of Historic Places and because the plan involves closing and expanding major streets. The National Environmental Policy Act and National Historic Preservation Act have separate processes, but are both conducted by city officials in conjunction with federal agencies.

A number of public agencies, including the Chicago Department of Transportation and the Park District, are required to evaluate the Obama center plan, then determine how it will impact residents and the best ways to construct the center without disrupting the community.

Friday’s meeting came as the Chicago Park District announced a separate series of public meetings to solicit feedback on proposed changes to Jackson and South Shore parks.

Those open house-style meetings will take place from 6-9 p.m. on Thursday and Dec. 11 at the South Shore Cultural Center.

The Obama Foundation has delayed submitting its proposal to the city’s Planning Department. But officials with the foundation said they still plan to break ground in late 2018 and the series of government meetings should not delay construction.

The foundation has not yet released a detailed timeline outlining its plans, but has said the center should be completed in 2021. The foundation’s dates are estimates that depend on city and federal approval.

Gorski said the federal review should be complete by fall 2018. It will take place as other public hearings are conducted.

At the Friday meeting, which was held at the South Shore YMCA near the park, residents crowded into the multipurpose room to watch the half-hour presentation. Dozens of others watched remotely from an overflow location, and some phoned in to the meeting.

The meeting was a kickoff where officials explained how the federal government will conduct its review of the development of Jackson Park and surrounding areas. But residents, activists and local stakeholders used the opportunity to air concerns.

Before the meeting got started, 20th Ward Ald. Willie Cochran emphasized that the Obama Presidential Center and even a proposed redevelopment of the nearby golf courses are much-needed economic boosts to several South Side communities.

“We don’t want the world to look at us as if we are having a fight,” he said and pointed to the failed Lucas Museum proposal and Olympics bid as cautionary examples.

“This is here — let’s make the best of it,” he said.

But Cochran’s comments didn’t stop residents from weighing in.

One asked how traffic patterns will be adjusted to ensure residents can access the harbor and boating areas. Another asked if the South Shore Cultural Center and more of the South Shore community could be included in the federal review process. One resident asked for an accounting of the trees in Jackson Park that would be lost to the presidential center development, and another asked for more details about street closures.

A representative from Friends of the Parks asked whether the federal review process could force the presidential center to move elsewhere if it’s determined that proposed changes to Jackson Park are too damaging.

Jawanza Malone of the Community Benefits Agreement Coalition asked how much the project would cost taxpayers. And Margaret Schmid of Jackson Park Watch pointed out that the foundation’s most recent sketches of its development proposal differ from the one included in a city ordinance granting the group access to the parkland.

But when Russell Pike of the Jackson Park Highland Association got his chance to speak, he talked about how his historic South Shore residential block views the proposed changes.

“We took a survey, and 87 percent of the households within that neighborhood are in support of the Obama Foundation plans to put the center in Jackson Park,” he said. “We look at the structures and … as far as the tallest building, I see it as a beacon of hope, a beacon of change.

“We need something like this to help us with the development of our community so we can be a thriving community within this city,” he said.

Louise McCurry of the Jackson Park Advisory Council looked out at the crowded room and said she had never seen so much interest in the park.

After the meeting, Michael Strautmanis, the foundation’s vice president for civic engagement, said his team is refining its proposal for the Planning Department and will file early next year. He said the changes take into consideration public concerns and that the foundation will continue to weigh residents’ opinions.

He said he found Friday’s session encouraging.

“This is our eighth public meeting and, consistent with the rest of them, we saw a lot of interest and a lot of excitement,” he said. “What could be seen as an arcane historic review process … we had people who really are interested in the project come participate. So much that they had to have an overflow room. That type of civic engagement is exciting. I was really inspired by what I saw.”